Columbia drops midnight deadline for dismantling of campus pro-Gaza encampment and claims talks with students about its removal are progressing

Columbia University backed away late Thursday from a deadline for pro-Palestinian demonstrators to leave an encampment as students prepared for the tenth day of protesting.

University President Minouche Shafik issued a statement less than an hour before the midnight deadline withdrawing from the border to dismantle a large tent camp housing about 200 students.

“The talks have shown progress and are continuing as planned. We have our demands; they have theirs,” Shafik said.

The statement denied that the New York City Police Department had been invited to the campus. “This rumor is false,” it said.

Student demonstrators say they are expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where the death toll has surpassed 34,305, according to the Hamas-held territory’s health ministry.

Students at the Columbia University encampment in Gaza will be dug in for their tenth day on Friday

Members of the New York Police Department’s Strategic Response Group perform outside the main entrance of Columbia University early Friday morning

Student protesters say they are expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where the death toll has surpassed 34,305.

In Columbia, protesters have defiantly set up a tent camp where many will graduate in a few weeks in the presence of families.

Columbia officials said negotiations showed progress as they neared the school’s deadline to reach an agreement early Friday to dismantle the encampment.

Nevertheless, two police vans were parked nearby and there was a noticeable presence of private security and police at the entrances to the campus.

Members of the New York Police Department’s Strategic Response Group perform outside the main entrance of Columbia University early Friday.

Police have carried out widespread arrests at universities across the country, sometimes using chemical irritants and Tasers to disperse protests over Israel’s war with Hamas.

A week after Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter, Isra Hirsi, was arrested for protesting at Columbia University, she and her progressive “Squad” mother visited the pro-Gaza camp on campus to get off campus enjoy and take selfies with activists.

Hirsi was one of more than a hundred people arrested last Thursday for participating in an anti-Israel demonstration. She was also suspended from Barnard College the same day.

“I had the honor of seeing Columbia University’s anti-war encampment with my own eyes,” Omar posted on X after her campus visit.

“In contrast to the right-wing attacks, these students are joyfully protesting for peace and an end to the genocide taking place in Gaza. I am in awe of their bravery and courage.”

Her post was accompanied by a video of her shaking hands with the protesters and receiving a warm welcome from the students.

Omar’s trip comes a day after House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., visited the campus to condemn protesters to a chorus of boos and protests.

Representative Ilhan Omar visited Columbia’s campus a week after her daughter, Isra Hirsi, was arrested for protesting and suspended from Barnard College

Johnson labeled the Columbia crowd “lawless agitators and radicals” and questioned their ability to become “leaders of America.”

He also praised the Jewish students who remain committed to their education and have staged vicious anti-Israel protests to that end.

“We will not remain silent while Jewish students are expected to run for their lives,” the speaker told the crowd.

Johnson, who met with Columbia University President Minouche Shafik before delivering his speech, publicly called for her to resign if she continues to be unable to control the protests taking place on campus.

He also threatened to withdraw federal funding from schools that are unable to ensure the safety of their Jewish students.